Meeting of Worlds
by Misu Niiroke
Summary: A young girl named Nanashi meets Lord Sesshomaru as a young boy. How will their relationship turn out as the years pass? Is the dog demon lord able to love anyone, let alone a human? Sess X OC
1. The Meeting

1: The Meeting

It wasn't momentous, our first meeting.

Well, that isn't true for me. In fact, I don't think he even noticed me, hiding behind the trees, watching the scene take place in front of me. I had only peaked around once or twice. I was too frightened to say anything. Those boys that had been around him looked pretty mean, pretty tough.

But so did he.

He was so different from the boys around him. He looked like no one I had ever seen before. He was tall, for one. He stood at least a head taller than the village boys. He wore strange clothing too. His sleeves billowed out around him, clean as a fresh snowfall. His hair shone like a sword hilt, bright and silver and smooth. It was his eyes as well. There was a hardness in his eyes, a look. It reminded me of the men in the village who had seen to many people die, or too much blood shed. It made me shiver just to look into those golden orbs.

I can remember it so clearly, as if it happened not moments ago.

I had been coming back from the river with a sack of clean sheets and clothes strapped to my back. I was taking the trail through the forest, when I heard someone yell. They sounded angry, and I was afraid of getting involved in something I shouldn't, but my curiosity took over, and I investigated the source of the noise.

I heard more yells, and as I grew closer, I could make out the words.

"Who do you think you are? Dressing in those clothes?"

"I think he's a prince, Jiro!" A roar of laughter rose up at this comment.

I could see them now. There were five boys, standing around one taller boy. Immediately, I knew he was the one they spoke of. I stared in wonder at his smooth features, the strange markings on his face and forehead. I couldn't take my eyes away from him. Who was he?

In my state, I failed to notice I was walking toward them. A twig snapped under my foot, causing the group of boys to turn toward me. I quickly pulled myself together and hid behind a thick tree. My heart was pounding fast, but when I heard one of the voices say, "It's just an animal", I relaxed slightly.

"How did you get your hair that way? You look like my grandmother!" I heard a deep voice taunt.

I chanced a look from my hiding place. I could see the boy who had made the comment. He was laughing loudly, and putting his face close to the silver-haired one. How could he take their comments so lightly? He didn't even look as if he'd heard them speak! I saw his eyes, as they stared, unblinkly into the distance. For a second, I watched his face, but suddenly, his eyes turned to meet mine.

I felt my breath leave me. All I could think was, "He's not human..."

My thoughts were irrational, at first, but not untrue. He proved my theory by bringing up his arm, revealing a clawed hand with more markings on his wrist. The boy who had taunted him now loooked at his hand in awe.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he squeeked out.

The silver-haired boy's lips turned up in a smile. I shivered at the sight of it. It didn't look right. He looked...dangerous.

There had been a blinding light, at which I had sheilded my eyes against. In another moment, the five village boys lay in a heap around the silver-haired wonder, unconscious. I gasped loudly, mistaking them for dead. This time, my fear was replaced with worry. Without thinking, I ran from my place behind the tree, into the clearing.

He turned to me, his arm still raised. I stopped just short of the boys, my heart racing.

"Are-are they all right?" I asked. Looking back, I don't know why I cared so much if the boys were alive. I didn't really care for any of those bullies. I suppose it was just an excuse to speak to him.

His arm slowly went back to his side. His smile had faded, returning to his previous state of unemotional detatchment. "I have spared their lives."

"Oh..." was all I could manage.

He turned to face me fully now, his eyes looking me over curiously. I blushed underneath his scrutiny. He looked a few years older than me. I was only ten at the time.

"What is your name?" I asked, more to break the uncomfortable silence than anything. Secretly, though, I desperately wanted to know.

He seemed to think over my request. A wind rose up, blowing his sleeves behind him, revealing the armor he wore on his chest, and the sword in its sheath at his side. I tried hard not to stare, but I had never seen a boy so young carrying such a fine weapon.

"I am Lord Sesshomaru, heir to the Western Lands." He said this with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Lord Sesshomaru..." I said under my breath. I was amazed further. This boy was a lord? How could that be? There was something about him, something I knew I should know, but couldn't remember. It was just at the tip of my tongue. I knew what strange hair and eyes meant. I knew it was wrong, dangerous. But all of the warning signs seemed to mean nothing in his presense.

"So, where are your parents? Do you live in this area?" I asked, taking a step closer.

He seemed to tense up as I drew nearer.

"Are you all alone?" I questioned, a sorry note in my words.

He seemed to sense my pity, for his eyes flared up with internal anger, and he barked out, "I don't need anyone, human."

I felt my insides squirm. He just called me a human. And he seems so angry. I felt terrible. He'd just been teased and taunted by the bullies of my village, and now I was making him upset. I felt tears begin in my eyes, as I replied softly, "I'm sorry."

He looked at me strangely now. He was looking at my face, at my tears. I wiped them away hastily in shame.

"What is that?" He asked, nodding to my eyes.

I sniffed loudly as I wiped my nose on my brown sleeve. "I'm...crying. I didn't mean to make you mad."

He turned his head to look behind me, into the distance of the hills and the feilds. "Don't feel sorry for me. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" I looked at him with concern, hoping I had not offended him. Something deep inside me wanted to make him smile, make him laugh. I wanted to know more about him. He was such a mystery.

His face softened as his eyes returned to mine. "Yes. I'm sure." A soft, slow smile edged onto his lips, and I felt my heart swell with happiness at the sight.

We stood across from each other, one human and one demon. I was unknowing to this boys wealth, of his lineage as a dog demon lord. But it didn't matter then. I was a human girl, looking at a boy I was liking more and more. And he looked back, with that rare smile I would come to love.

In that moment, at our first meeting, we were happy. And it wasn't momentous, or life-changing. But in the times to come, my life would be forever changed by the demon boy named Sesshomaru.

My name is Nanashi, and this is my story.


	2. The Girl Without Name

2: The Girl Without Name

When I was born, my mother did not name me. At least, this is what Akiko tells me every day. She tells me that when my mother looked at me, she did not see anyone worth naming. That was why she abandoned me in the village. When Akiko told me these things when I was younger, I did not believe her.

Why should I not have a name? Even the poorest, ugliest child is blessed with a title to be known by. I was not pretty, but certainly not ugly. And I was poor, but I had seen many worse off than I. So why?

Akiko said it's because I am worthless.

Akiko is my guardian. When I was abandoned by mother, she found me laying at her door entrance. She says she took pity upon me and let me into her home. I can't remember the very beginnings of my life with Akiko, but I have an early memory of her slapping my hand away from the spoon while she stirred soup over a fire.

It's not that I don't like Akiko. I am very grateful to her for letting me live with her. But, she is not a very compassionate woman. She is not a cold stone, but hot and short-tempered. Her nerves were short, and I tested them often growing up.

In the year before I met Sesshomaru, Akiko began to put me to work. She made me wash and dry our clothes and sheets, carrying the load up and back to the river. She made me go to the market and buy food. She even sometimes sent me on long trips to neighboring villages as a messanger.

Akiko was one of the rare women in our village that could write. And she wrote beautifully. That was probably the only thing I admired about her.

Before meeting Sesshomaru, I was very lonely. Around the village, to the other children, and even their parents, I was known as Nanashi, or The Girl Without Name. After a while, I stopped trying to make friends with them. They usually ignored me, or sometimes, threw rocks at me. I told Akiko my troubles one night, and she only sneered at me over the fire pit, saying harshly,

"What do expect? Your Nanashi. You're not meant to make friends. Just do your work and be thankful for the life I've given you."

From that night on, I put all of my time and energy into my work. I thought, maybe, if I made Akiko proud, she would see that I wasn't worthless. Maybe she would even give me a name.

In those days, that was all I ever wanted.

That is, until I met Lord Sesshomaru.

OOO

After our first meeting, I went back to the village, a strange and unknown feeling in my heart. I felt like I had found a friend for the first time in my life. Sesshomaru was like no other person I'd met or seen. He was so...strange, and yet beautiful. I kept hearing our conversation resonating in my head.

_"I have spared their lives."_

_"Oh..."_

His eyes had been hard and cold, like ice. But the color was of a rich, fiery sunset, burning amber and gold. I felt like he could see through me, to my deepest wishes and desires.

_"...I didn't mean to make you mad."_

_"Don't feel sorry for me. I'm fine."_

I went over it again and again. Without realizing it, from being so deep in thought, I had reached Akiko's hut. I pulled back the flap and entered the one-room hut. She wasn't there.

I sighed. She was visiting her friends in the Northern village, no doubt. She would sometimes go there to gossip with the gieshas or flirt with some of the fighters and samurai who came to the villages. Akiko was not an old woman, but still not young. I never understood why she looked for a husband so late in her life.

I built a fire in the small pit in the center of the room. Once the fire was large enough, I retreived the pot for cooking and began to make soup.

Even as I scooped the ingredients into the pot, my thoughts drifted to the silver-haired boy. I couldn't stop myself. He was the only one who had ever spoken to me besides Akiko. And he smiled at me! I had never seen anyone smile in my direction. They would always frown, their eyes pitying and disgusted.

I couldn't help but feel a slow sadness creep into me. He had said he was from the Western Lands. Akiko lived in the Eastern Lands. With a heavy heart, I thought I would never see him again.

"Sesshomaru is a lord...He would not want to see me anyway..." I said aloud, my voice low and disappointed. I stirred the soup without vigor, and as my initial happiness at finding a friend began to dwindle, I could feel the weight of my responsibility on my shoulders once more.

_Akiko is having me send another letter tomorrow. She said it was urgent and would take most of the day. I will have to get up early and go to the market before I leave._

I felt sad knowing that work was my only future, and knowing that fact, only made me more depressed. I would never see Sesshomaru again, and I would always be worthless, a no one, The Girl Without Name.

I cried that night, letting all of my sadness and sorry drip softly onto the cold, wood floor.


End file.
